Smith succeeds once more to move within striking distance of Ahmed

Smith succeeds once more to move within striking distance of Ahmed

ARNSIDE-based kart racer Josh Smith’s summer of success continued with two wins in the latest two rounds of the hotly contested ABC Super One Cadet Comer Championship.

Fresh from his maiden triumph in the MSA British Cadet Championship at Glan Y Gors in North Wales and his subsequent victory in the prestigious Dragon Masters Trophy at the same venue, 13-year-old Smith returned to the challenging, undulating GYG circuit for the fourth round of the Super One Championship before heading to Rowrah for round five.

On both occasions the Dallam High School pupil,proved why leading motoring newspaper ‘Motorsport News’ tipped him as one of their 50 drivers to watch in 2012 with two wins and two other podium finishes in the four point scoring finals.

Smith has spent the entire Super One season fighting back from a catastrophic opening round, which saw him suffer a carburettor failure on the rolling lap of the first final.

Smith powered home to a close third place finish in the first final, which set him up nicely for the televised second final, which turned out to be one of the best races of the year.

“I came into the last lap in third place behind Dean MacDonald and Enaam Ahmed,” said Smith, who drives for multiple title winning outfit Fusion Motorsport.

“Halfway around the last lap Enaam went wide and I took second place. Then Dean over-defended with two corners to go and I was able to get around the outside of him, which gave me the inside line for the last corner and I took the win.”

With one victory under his belt Smith was keen to maintain that momentum at Rowrah, where he was cruelly robbed of the British Open ‘O Plate’ title earlier this year when he was stripped of victory for alleged contact with another driver.

Smith quickly showed the rest of the field that he had lost none of his pace as he beat his Fusion teammate Ahmed by half a second to win his first heat before suffering at the hands of the officials once again in heat two when he received a five-place penalty, which dropped him from second to seventh.

The rain arrived before the two point scoring finals and Smith was quickly on the move in the first final, picking up several places from his grid position to take third, which meant a second row starting spot for the televised second final where once again, his teammate Ahmed would be his main rival.

Through the mist and spray Smith took the chequered flag 0.4 seconds ahead of Ahmed for his second win in as many rounds, a result that elevated him into second place in the Super One Championship with two rounds remaining, 17 points behind Ahmed.

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